


Just My Luck

by Sillva



Category: The Last of Us
Genre: Action/Adventure, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Drama, F/M, Horror, Romance, Swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-20
Updated: 2016-03-24
Packaged: 2018-05-02 13:19:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5249618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sillva/pseuds/Sillva
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Taking place six years after the events of the first game we encounter a young soldier at the end of his rope. He has always been a screw up but he had always managed to make it through some how or another but. Now he had lost everything, his family, his squad, and very soon likely his life. Lucky is what they call him and he has always cursed the irony of it but. It was given to him when he was cut from his infected mothers belly about 24 years ago so maybe there was some grain of true to it. Maybe he had used up all of his good fortune right then and there and he had just been living on borrowed time ever since. Can anyone save him from this downward spiral or will he only fall further.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and welcome. This is my first work for the Last of Us and I do hope you enjoy. At the moment this is more of one shot but if you like it, it will go on.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A loss, a birth, and new beginnings.

#### Location: Sidney Ohio Quarantine Zone. Date: July 13 2015 two years since the Cordyceps outbreak.

Many would say that Sidney was one of the luckier towns during the early stages of the outbreak. Being the small town that it was when the infection hit meant that it would take a good deal of time before it's citizens felt its effects. With many of the surrounding cities quickly being over run by the infected hordes many of the remaining military forces along with every survivor from the surrounding area fled to Sidney to escape and thus the Ohio Quarantine Zone was quickly established.

It's been two whole years since then and so much has changed. With Marshal Law now in full effect the military had full control over the country and all of its resources. However with what little military might that remained at this stage of the outbreak, to say it was being stretched to its limits would be an understatement. In the cases of small Zones like Sidney, about all they could manage was maintaining some semblance of order within the walls and to disposing of the infected that would wonder too close. And with the recent emergence of a terrorist group calling themselves the Fireflies, no soldier had a shortage of work on their hands. Our story begins with one such soldier. A young soldier by name of…

///////////////////////////////////////////

"Ramirez!" A gruff male voice called out from behind a closed door. When no response came the door swung open to reveal a tall muscular man wearing a military uniform. "Ramirez, where in the hell are you!? You better not be hiding from me soldier!" The man shouted as he glanced around the room which appeared to be some sort of makeshift armory with rows of lockers in the center and combat gear lining its walls. Still hearing no response to his ranting the man's brows furrowed in annoyance as he began to march past the lockers and towards a curtained off section of the room on the far side of it. He quickly pulled the curtain aside to reveal a small nook with several cots hung from the walls and on top of the nearest cot sat a young woman in military uniform. The woman had her face buried in a magazine and had a set of headphones hanging from her ears. "God Damn it Ramirez!" The man shouted as he pulled the magazine from the woman's hands to get her attention.

"Hey what the hel..lo sir!" The woman shouted in surprise before she sprung up to her feet and offered the man a crisp salute. Then the man began to speak but she couldn't quite make out what he was saying. The man gripped the bridge of his nose and motioned to his ears and mouthed the word headphones. The woman quickly realized her mistake and pulled the headphones out before tucking them into a bag behind her. "Sorry sir! What can I do for you!?" She asked innocently.

"Well I'm so glad you asked Ramirez. First of all, could you tell me where the hell the rest of your squad is!?" The man asked in a tone that suggested this wasn't really a request.

"They went to cash in their ration cards sir!" Ramirez responded promptly.

The man looked confused for a moment before responding in a frustrated tone. "They went to get their rations, of course why didn't I think of that? Oh wait that's right I told you to keep your men on standby tonight! So tell me why you felt the need to disregard my orders!?"

"Sorry sir! They wouldn't shut up so I figured it would be a good way to get a moment of peace. I'm sure they will be back any moment now." Ramirez explained. It looked as if her superior was about to continue his rant when he heard the sound of their barracks gate opening. "See sir, I'm sure that's them now."

The man sighed before speaking. "Fine but, consider yourself lucky this is your last day under my command or I would have had you scrubbing the johns for this! Now get your men geared up and ready to move out!" He commanded.

"Move out? Where am I taking them sir?" Ramirez inquired.

"We got reports of more infected gathering in sector 14. We want you and your squad to go clear them out." The man responded.

Ramirez rolled her eyes. "Another infection sweep, are you kidding me!? That's the sixth one this week!"

The man began to glare. "Watch your tone private! Be thankful that's all you're doing! You should be well aware by now how direr our situation is! We can't afford to have anyone sitting around on their asses while the rest of us work ours off. Do I make myself clear?!"

"Yes sir." Ramirez responded halfheartedly.

"I'm sorry I didn't hear you, care to try again private!?" The man commanded.

"Sir, yes sir!" Ramirez shouted while giving a salute.

"Good now get going!" The man said as he left the nook and headed back out of the door he had come in through. On his way out the door he passed a small group of soldiers carrying bags of what appeared to be canned food. When the soldiers were met by their commanders gaze they all seemed freeze in place before going into a saluting posture. "At easy, you lot got some work to do. Ramirez will fill you in." He told them before he pushed his way past the group and went around the next corner. Once the man was out of sight the group quickly made their way into the armory to face their sour looking squad leader and get their marching orders.

Ramirez's squad consisted of five people in total, four of which were men and the other one a women. Every member of the squad was in their early thirties to their late twenties but they each looked like they could be at least five years older. Once the squad sat their food down and took their place in front of their leader one of the men in the group stepped forward to speak with Ramirez directly. "So, they're sending us out again?" He asked in a somber tone.

Ramirez gave them an apologetic look before nodding. "Sorry guys, they want us to sweep sector 14. Trust me when I say I would rather be doing anything else but, we don't have much of an option here. So let's just gear up and get this over with."

The group let out a collective sigh before complying and spreading out across the room to grab their combat gear. The young man from earlier had just finished strapping on his vest before he went to speak with his squad leader again. "Hey Ramirez, this is your last day right? I still can't believe you're getting transferred. Boston is a long way from here."

"Well you best start Tony, since it's happening weather you believe it or not. And believe me I tried to get out of it. You know how the higher ups can be." She responded dryly.

The man gave her an understanding nod while snapping a magazine into his assault rifle. "What are we going to do without you?"

"Well that's really up to you to decide since your going to be squad leader from now on right? Shit I wish I could get promoted so easily! You should feel lucky." Ramirez said jokingly.

Ramirez's statement was met by a groan. "Hardly, I will say this now boss I never envied your job. Having to deal with command on a regular basis, needing to deal with never ending paper work, and having the lives of your whole squad resting you your shoulders constantly! If gaining all those problems wasn't bad enough, I am also losing my drinking buddy! So when we get back we just have to crack a few open! Think of it as a going away party, what do you say?"

Ramirez began to laugh to herself before responding. "Sure Tony but I'm all out so I guess that means we will be using your stash this time?" It was clear she wasn't really asking.

"Sure thing lets just hope there won't be too many…"

//////////////////////////////////////////////////

"Infected!" Tony shouts to the rest of his squad when he heard the familiar screech of infected runners as he spotted a group of them rushing towards them from multiple directions. He quickly raised his rifle to meet the charging horde before he opened fire. With deadly precision he unleashes several automatic bursts into the heads of three of approaching runners causing them to reel back before unceremoniously slumping to the ground in a heap of rotting flesh. Then as the last round of his magazine left the chamber he quickly took a step back to reload his weapon and watched as the rest of his squad moved up to form a line and mow down the remaining infected without any further incident. He couldn't help but crack a smile when the last one was effectively turned into Swiss cheese by a concentrated burst from all five of his companions before it crumbled to the ground.

Then once it was clear Tony took a few careful steps forward to confirm the kills and despite himself he jumped when he felt a hand grab onto his shoulder from behind. He quickly spun around to see his squad leader standing behind him. Ramirez gave him a cheeky look before addressing him. "Gees boy, still jumpy are we?" She said jokingly garnering a chuckle from the rest of the squad. She then took a step past Tony towards the fallen infected and glanced down at their work. "Good shooting guys, these fungus heads are real dead. And since no more seem to be coming after all that noise we just made, it looks like that's the last of them in this area."

The group let out a collective cheer but Tony had his doubts. "We sure this is the last of them?"

Ramirez gave him a confused look. "Well this was the area we were tasked with clearing and there's none left. Is there any reason to think there are more near by?"

Tony nodded as he stepped past her and knelt down next to one of the bodies. "It looks like all these guys were infected recently. So it makes me wonder what happened to the infected that bit them. Also I recognize this guy." He said while motioning to one of the fallen infected. "His name was Phil I think. He and his pregnant wife disappeared from the zone a few days ago and I don't see her anywhere. I doubt he would just leave her behind so she must be nearby"

Ramirez gave Tony a wide grin before patting him on the back hard enough to make him nearly fall over. "See I knew you would be perfect for the job. And you thought you guys would be hopeless without me. Anyway, looks like we got a little more work to do so spread out and search the bodies. We are looking for a map, maybe a journal, anything that could tell us what these guys were doing out here and where they were going. It could lead us to the rest of the infected and possible survivors."

The squad members instantly descended on the bodies quickly sifting through their pockets and backpacks pulling out valuables, food, ammo, tools, and several pieces of scrap paper with notes scribbled on them. Within moments one of the squad members a young woman by the name of Megan sprang up with a hand drawn map in hand. "Hey guys I think I found it!"

"What you got Megan?" Ramirez asked as she came closer to inspect it.

Megan quickly unfolded the map and laid it out on the ground. "This map is fairly detailed so I am guessing these guys have been here awhile. That means they must have a safe house set up some where and if I had to wager a guess it would be right here." Megan explained while pointing to one of the several marked locations depicted on the map.

Then Tony decided to join the conversation. "What makes you think that's the place?"

"Well based on all the supplies these guys were logging around with them, I think it's safe to say this was some sort of smuggling operation. And if you look closely all of these marked locations seem to be following a pattern. It's most likely that they were on the move between safe houses and since we found them here it would only make since that the closest place between here and the zone is where they were last." Megan reasoned.

Ramirez shrugs. "Hey makes since to me. This place isn't to far from here so let's go rap this up and get back home!"

////////////////////////////////////////

About half an hour later and Ramirez's squad found themselves in front of old diner near the highway exit ramp. At first glance it seemed like an odd place for anyone to set up their base camp but the windows were small and elevated and its doors looked strong enough to withstand a few hits. Once they got a little closer they noticed an iron crowbar jammed into the door frame to keep it from being opened. Of course this raised a few red flags right away. It would make since if it was sealed from the inside but seeing it sealed from the outside was usually a bad sign. That meant there was something inside that somebody was trying to keep from getting out. So Ramirez readied her weapon and motioned towards two of her subordinates to advance. "Megan, Jonathan I need you to get us inside." She ordered causing the two squad members to quickly flank the door. With their weapons at the ready the two squad members rushed over to the door while the rest of the squad took up firing positions in front of it. Once everyone was in position Megan gave Ramirez a nod before reaching for the crowbar in order yank it free. However the moment her hand had touched the bar, the group heard the familiar sound of clicking from the other side of the door. The clicking was followed by a loud thud coming from the within the diner. Megan's hand instantly sprang backward in surprise before she glanced back at her squad leader for further guidance. Ramirez's face had now taken on a much more serious expression. She took a deep breath and exhaled softly before speaking. "Do it, we got you." She said calmly as she focused the sights of her rifle on the door.

Megan gave a hesitant nod before rapping her fingers back around the crowbar and giving it a hard tug ripping it free from the doorframe. The moment the bar was pulled free from the door it was thrown open and a group of heavily degenerated infected rushed out screeching and flailing their arms at air. And the moment they stepped out into the open they walked directly into a hail of gunfire that ripped them to pieces. With the infected defeated the group let out a collective sigh of relief before one of them decided to vocalize what they were all thinking. "Damn I hate these things!" Jonathan stated as he stepped over to the downed infected to make sure they were finished.

"No kidding, I mean look at their faces. They have to have been infected for a long time to be this bad, at least a year I would say." Tony added.

Ramirez looked down at them in disgust. "It seems the eyes tend to be one of first things to go. That's why they click like that. It's some kind of echo location apparently."

"Echo location? You mean like a bat?" Megan asked.

"That's right. Anyway I hear they have started calling them clickers." Ramirez responded.

"Clickers, is that right? Well it's real creepy so I guess it kind of fits. I don't want to image what these things would look like in a few more years." Tony chimed in.

"Hey maybe they will swell up so much that they will just explode!" Jonathan said jokingly warranting a round of chuckling from the rest of the squad.

Their laughter was quickly cut short as they heard another screech coming from inside the diner. Ramirez signaled her squad mates to follow her lead inside. They moved with a quite quickness as they pushed their way deeper inside the old building. They passed several fresh bodies and the signs of a battle as they made their way towards the back. It became clear that their suspicions were right and that this was some sort of smuggling operation gone horribly wrong. After a few minutes of weaving through the madness they found themselves staring wide eyed at a lone clicker slamming itself into a bathroom door likely trying to break its way inside. Several of Remirez's squad members raised their rifles to take the shot but she waved them off as she pulled a grenade from her waist. She quietly pulled the pin and chucked it directly at the clicker's feet causing it to roar and swing its arms wildly at the ground trying to kill whatever it was that rolled up to it until the grenade detonated at its feet. When the grenade went off it set hot metal fragments threw just about every part the clicker's body putting it down instantly.

After the grenade went off the squad remained motionless for a moment to make sure they were now truly alone. Hearing no further infected activity after the less then stealthily take down the squad began to move more quickly. Tony turned to Remirez to speak. "Care to explain that one to me? It seemed a bit excessive."

Ramirez shot Tony a wicked grin. "It seems you still got a lot to learn Tony. Other then killing the thing the grenade would have also drawn out the remaining infected in the area without alerting them to are location, which would have made them a hell of a lot easier to deal with don't you think? Of course the more important thing was this." Remirez stated as she motioned to the bathroom door which was now partly blown off its hinges. She proceeded to rip the door completely off and pushed her way through the blockage that was set up on the other side to enter the bathroom and her squad quickly followed suit. Once inside Remirez noticed a moving figure in the back of the room lying on the floor shaking. The figure appeared to be a middle-aged woman. Seeing this Remirez raised her weapon and approached slowly. "Hello? Are you alright?" She called out trying to get its attention. Before getting a response she was grabbed by the shoulder by Tony.

"That's Phil's wife, it looks like she's been bit!" Tony said as he pointed out the bloody marks on the woman's arms and legs. "Since she hasn't tried to eat us yet she must have just turned."

Remirez looked down at the shaking woman with a somber expression that only fell lower as she laid eyes on the woman's large rounded stomach. She let out a long sigh of exasperation before leveling her rifle and firing a single round into the women's head killing her instantly. "What a waste. I'm sorry." She said while shaking her head. Her attention was then pulled back as she heard Megan scream from behind her. She quickly spun around to see Megan lying flat on her ass in a slimy pool of liquid on the floor.

Megan shrieked as she tried to steady herself and slipped on the slimy liquid again. "What is this crap!? It's really gross!" She complained.

Remirez quickly made her way over to inspect it. "This is…" She trailed off a moment as she looked back at the body of the women she had just killed. She noticed that the women's pants looked wet and realization hit her. "Her water broke!" She shouted as she marched back up to the body and glanced down at her round stomach. After a moment she noticed movement inside of it. She then turned back to her squad and pulled out a combat knife from her vest. "Does anyone know how to deliver a baby?" She asked jokingly.

////////////////////////////////////////////////

About half an hour later and Remirez was wearing a bright smile and had a new born baby boy rapped up in her arms. While the rest of her squad looked either horrified or incredibly tired. "I can't believe you just did that!" Jonathan stated in disbelief.

"Hey you know how the saying goes no man gets left behind! And we had to do what we had to do." Remirez responded.

"How do we even know this kid isn't infected?" Tony inquired.

Remirez held up the baby and flipped him around a few times in her hands to get a good look at him. "He looks clean to me. So who wants a kid?" She asked proudly as she held him up. She was quickly met with a few weird looks. "What, nobody?"

"Ma'am shouldn't we turn this kid over? None of us have to take him in." Megan responded.

Remirez shook her head. "I have been in the system long enough to know how much it sucks. And that was before all this crazy shit went down. I don't even want to think about what it's like these days. So I guess if there's no takers your all mine now huh little guy?" She said while cradling the baby.

"You're serious about this?" Tony asked causing Remirez to give him a nod. "Alright, so what are you going to name him?"

Remirez hadn't really thought about that. She took another look at the boy and thought for a long moment. "The odds were really stacked against this little guy. So I guess the most fitting name would be…"

/////////////////////////////////////////////

#### Location: Boston Quarantine Zone. Date: July 13 2033

"Lucky, yes I know it's your birthday but I am out on patrol right now dear. I swear I will be home as soon as we are done with this sweep. Ah don't worry so much kid. I'm outside of the Zone tonight. I doubt the Fireflies will bother coming through here. Anyway I have to go see you later champ." Remirez said into the radio of her transport jeep. Then she turned off the radio and laid back into her seat with a sigh.

"That kid giving you trouble again Remirez?" A man in military combat gear sitting next to her asked jokingly.

"Not really, he just worries too much is all. With how fragile that boy is I don't know if he's cut out for this kind of work." Remirez responded.

"It's hard to believe he's already eighteen. He will be graduating from military school in a few days right? Man that's wild!" The man added.

Remirez gave the man a happy nod before strapping on a gasmask and cocking her weapon before the jeep came to a sudden stop. Then the driver turned back towards the pair to speak. "Alright this is it you guys, good luck out there tonight and stay sharp!"

Remirez and the other man nodded before they hoped out the side of the jeep and began taking in their surroundings. "Alright let's get this patrol over with! I can't keep my boy waiting forever."


	2. One Lucky Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Is this the end or just the beginning? WARNING: Heavy use of swearing and violence in this chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey welcome to the second chapter of Just My Luck. In this chapter is when the real story begins. This was quite the project and I hope you enjoy. Please let me know what you think in the comments section. I'm open to hearing all your thoughts and suggestions.

Ramirez and her companion an old soldier by the name of Logan had been patrolling the outer rim of the zone for the last few hours and their patrol was nearly over. And they both wanted nothing more then to be done with this boring repetitive task so they could go home. And the rain and mud they had to dredge through certainly didn't help their motivation any. They currently found themselves stud atop a large semi truck trailer that had be abandoned in a watery ditch. How it got there in the first place is anyone's guess but it wasn't likely to go anywhere for a long time. Ramirez found it to be a good vantage point and would spend most of their patrol in this sector perched upon it.

Ramirez looked out over the ditch and up towards the massive wall protecting the zone and couldn't help but wonder why they were even out here. She almost missed the times when she was fighting infected. Back then it at least felt like she was doing something meaningful but now she wasn't so sure. "I'm getting too old for this shit." Ramirez said while letting out a sigh.

"Hey you and me both, at least it's about that time. We can finally start heading back." Logan stated as he approached from behind her.

"Yeah there is that." Ramirez stretched out and released a yawn before spinning around and heading back towards the front of the semi tailor and higher ground. Both Ramirez and Logan hopped down from the top of the tailor and began walking away when Ramirez froze in place and gave Logan the signal to stop. A silent moment later and Ramirez spoke again. "Did you hear that?"

"No I didn't hear a thing." Logan responded.

"Just listen." Ramirez stated as she polled him aside and into cover.

"I still don't…" Logan trailed off as the familiar sound of footsteps entered his ears. The footsteps were soft and quick and almost unnoticeable over the howling wind and rain. He couldn't make out how many there were but there was more then one and it was coming from the ditch below. "Do you think their Fireflies?"

"Don't know, let's not take any chances. There is only one way out of that ditch and that is through that semi trailer, so you circle around catch them from behind. I will stay up here and try and get the drop on them." Ramirez responded. Logan gave her a quick nod before drawing his side arm and making his way around to drop down into the ditch without being noticed.

Moments later and Ramirez had taken up position beside the semi trailer just out of view. She could hear the sounds of the foot steps and hushed voices clearly now. One of the voices sounded young, too young to be out in a place like this. So Ramirez decided to take a risk and peek out to see the approaching party. There were two adults a man and women that looked to be in their mid to late 40s and just as she suspected there was a young teenaged girl walking along with them. "Could they be a family? What are they doing outside the zone? I guess it doesn't really matter, I have to bring them in. So I will just have to try and keep this as civil as possible." She thought to herself.

Then Ramirez heard the clank of metal underfoot as one of them stepped into the back of the semi tailer and began making their way up towards her. She gripped her weapon tightly in her hands as she ran simulation in her head of how this would go down depending on who was leading the group. Then she heard the voice of a young girl call from below. "This is slippery." The girl was quickly hushed by the person leading the group.

Ramirez now knew that the girl wasn't leading so she wouldn't have to hold back. A second later and the head of a man peeked out from inside the tailor and Ramirez raised gun and she jammed the but of the weapon directly into the mans jaw sending him to the ground. Without missing a beat Ramirez leveled her weapon and faced the rest of the group before addressing them. "Don't do anything stupid."

Ramirez quickly spotted Logan move in from behind them with his side arm draw and motioned them forward. "Move." He told them.

"Turn around, on your knees." Ramirez followed up before addressing Logan. "You scan them. I'll call it in."

"Alright." Logan responded as began directing the group. "Put your hands on your head."

Logan seemed to have it under control so Ramirez turned away and clicked on her helmets radio. "This is Ramirez at sector twelve. I'm requesting pickup for three stragglers." A moment of silence followed before Ramirez nodded and spoke into the headset again. "Understood."

At this point Logan had pulled out his infection scanner and was getting it ready to use. While he did this the women of the group turned her head towards him to speak. "Look the other way. We can make this worth your while." She told him.

"Shut up." Logan told her in dry tone. "I'm getting tiered of this shit." He said as moved around her and placed the scanner to the back of her neck. A moment later and he pulled the device away and moved towards the man of the group.

"Mm-hmm." Ramirez said into head set before glancing over at her partner.

"What's the ETA?" Logan asked as he pulled the device away from the man's neck and moved on to the young girl they had with them.

"A couple of minutes." Ramirez responded.

Logan nodded as he placed the scanner on the girl's neck and a second later the girl began to act strangely. "Sorry!" She shouted as she pulled a small knife out of her pocket and jammed it right into Logan's leg.

Logan screamed in pain causing Remirez to spin around to see what had happened. When she did all she heard was a bang and her last thought was. "Oh…"

////////////////////////////////////////////

"Crap, I screwed up!" A young man shouted in a panicked tone while he vigorously rummaged through a camouflaged backpack at his feet. The man himself looked to be in his mid twenties and had light brown hair and dark blue eyes. The man was also dressed from head to toe in a military uniform and full combat gear. He was seated on the back of a moving military transport truck with several other men and woman with similar equipment. And they were traveling down a dirt road that was surrounded by dense woods for as far as the eye could see.

Noticing his comrade's strife another young man seated across from him leaned forward to address him. "What did you do this time Lucky?" He asked in a friendly tone.

"I forgot my snacks back at our last camp!" The brown haired man responded.

The second man began to chuckle as he responded. "Gees man, I swear you'd forget your rifle if we let you."

"It's not funny Alex. I still had some chocolates left! Chocolate I'm telling you!" The brown haired man snapped.

The second man looked taken back for a moment. "Wait a minute. Lucky, you had chocolate and you didn't share with us?!" The man known as Alex inquired.

Overhearing the conversation a female soldier beside the man known as Lucky leaned over to interject. "Yeah, that's not cool Lucky! I thought we were friends. How did you even get your hands on Chocolate anyway?" She inquired.

Lucky gave the girl a goofy smile before retorting. "Curious are we? All you have to do is know the right people."

"Oh, the right people he says. Can you believe this guy Hope?" The second man asked the female soldier.

"Hey would you kids shut it back there, were almost in Jackson so try to look like real soldiers for once!" An older man seated towards the front of the truck shouted back at them.

The three young soldiers snap to attention and spoke in sync with one another. "Yes sir!" Seeming satisfied with that response the older man returned to gazing ahead of the truck.

When he did the three younger soldiers instantly returned to speaking amongst themselves with a slightly more hushed tone. "I still can't believe that we're getting stationed in Jackson, can you say lucky?" Alex asked. "And to clarify I'm not talking about Remirez." He added in jest causing Lucky to roll his eyes.

"Yeah I know what you mean! Did you guys hear that all the houses have their own running water and electricity? I can't wait to take hot bath again!" Hope added with excitement clear in her voice.

"Hey don't get too excited yet guys. Remember the only reason Jackson agreed to open relations with us or rather the military is because the higher ups agreed that we would help them deal with their Hunter problem. If we don't deliver some results we're out of here." Lucky reminded them.

"Oh, don't be such a spoiled sport. They're just a bunch of scavengers living in the woods. How bad could they be?" Alex asked in a dismissive tone.

"Well, they are tough enough to warrant our presence. You got to remember that Jackson isn't just another small shanty town like the ones we've been to up until now. At this time Jackson is one of the largest and most well defended towns in the country outside of the military zones of course. And from what I've heard, they weren't too keen on the idea of getting us involved. So the fact that we're here should be proof enough that this mission won't be an easy one." Lucky retorted in a serious tone.

"Gees, there you go again! Does it always have to be doom and gloom when we're in the field? You need to loosen up a bit Lucky. You know, enjoy life a little while you can." Hope said to him.

"I would love to but if there's anything I've learned from my mother it's that it only takes one little mistake. Just one slip up and it's all over. And not just for you but everyone around you could be effected as well. For example, let's say you miss a small detail like locking a door behind you and one infected slips in. Then your small mistake just took everyone down along with you." Lucky explained.

When Lucky finished speaking a thick air of awkward silence soon came over the group. "Ah crap, did I screw up? I was just trying to sound cool. Maybe I went too far?" Lucky thought to himself. After a moment with still nobody speaking Lucky decided he would have to do something. "Hey guys I was just…" He began but was cut off when the truck came to a sudden stop causing everyone in to jerk forward slightly before settling back into the seats. "What the heck was that!?" Lucky shouted before standing up to glance over the side of the truck.

The cause of the sudden stop was a blockage in the form of a signal large truck parked long ways across the road managing to completely block their path forward. "What the hell is this!?" Their commanding officer yelled.

"What should I do sir?!" The truck driver inquired.

Their commanding officer began looking around. The truck was quite large and looked heavy, too much for the truck to just push its way through. And going around it wasn't really an option either since they were currently rounding a cliff and going right would mean driving through a very dense tree line and left would lead to a steep drop off. "Damn, just hang tight and the boys will get that truck cleared out of the way!"

"Of course we will. Why not right?" Lucky mumbled sarcastically. Lucky's enthusiasm was mirrored by the rest of his squad as they began shuffling out the back of their truck and heading towards the one blocking their path. However while trying to step down from the truck Lucky caught his foot on the side which caused him to trip and plant his face on the ground below. "Ouch, son of a bitch that hurt!" Lucky howled while gripping the bridge of his bleeding nose and rolling around on the ground in pain.

A moment later and his two friends Alex and Hope stepped down next to Lucky and gave each other an incredulous look before shaking their heads. Then Hope stepped forward and reached out her hand to help Lucky up. "Oh stop your whining you big cults."

Lucky accepted the help and was instantly pulled back up onto his feet. "Oh shut it! I think I broke my nose. It won't stop bleeding." He complained while rubbing and prodding his reddening nose.

"Hey you can use these." Alex said as he reached into one of his many pockets and pulled out a set of ear plugs. "These should stop the bleeding for awhile." He told Lucky causing him to shrug and accept them.

"Hey what the hell you lot doing!?" Their commanding officer barked as he stepped over to the edge of the truck bed above them. He then motioned towards the truck blocking their path which was now surrounded by the rest of the squad. "Get over their and help them get that hunk of junk out of our way!" He commanded.

The three soldiers let out a collective sigh before giving their superior a proper salute and responding in unison. "Sir, yes sir!"

Their commanding officer gave them an irritated look before ripping into them once again. "Don't salute me jackasses! This is Hunter territory and I'm sure they would love nothing more than to take out an officer! Remember an ambush could be waiting around any cor…" The man's rant was suddenly cut short when the crack of a rifle echoed through the cliff side and a new bullet hole appeared in the older officer's chest. The older man screamed in pain and gripped desperately at the fresh wound in his chest before his legs gave out from under him and sending him falling forward over the side of the truck.

"Get down!" Lucky shouted before him along with his two friends dove under their truck for cover.

Meanwhile the rest of the squad that was now surrounding the truck began to panic and scramble for cover of their own. And from Lucky's new position on the ground he spotted something that caught his eye. It was an unusual flashing object on the bottom of the truck that was blocking their path. It was the very same truck that many of his comrades were now trying to use as cover. So Lucky tried to focus his eyes for a better look. Then the object came into focus he felt a pit begin to grow in his stomach. "Everyone get away from there! The truck is rigged!" He warned but it was too late as the moment the words left his mouth the objected flashed before sending the truck up in a huge ball of fire and throwing heavy pieces of shrapnel in just about every direction manning or killing nearly half of the men and women unlucky enough to have been hiding nearby.

"Jesus Christ!" Alex shouted as he watched the carnage unfold from under their squad's truck.

"Hey don't take the lords name in vain!" Hope shouted disapprovingly.

"Screw you Hope! You're not even Christian!" He responded.

"Yeah well we're probably about to die so why take chances right!?" Hope retorted.

"Screw that noise I'm not dying today, no way! Lucky you're the plan guy, what do we do!?" Axel asked in a panicked tone.

"Give me a minute I need to think!" Lucky responded before he began to bit down on his thumb. After a moment of thought released his thumb and began to address his squad members in a more steady tone. "The gun shot came from the forest right? That means that's most likely where the hunters are watching us from. Maybe if we…" Lucky's train of thought was cut off when he heard a horrifying shriek coming from the woods.

"Was that what I think it was?!" Hope asked in terror stricken voice.

"Infected!" The trio heard one of their other surviving comrade's scream as a swarm of fungal infected burst out of the tree line towards the squad's position. When the infected came into sight the remaining survivors who were still able to move quickly pulled out and leveled their rifles and side arms on the approaching horde before opening fire.

"Where the hell did they come from!? I thought they said this area didn't have a lot of infected!?" Alex inquired.

"The explosion must have drawn them here! Maybe that was the Hunters plan all along!" Lucky responded.

"We got to get out there and help them!" Hope stated as she began to scoot out from under the truck.

Lucky reached over and pulled Hope back under the truck next to him. "I still need time to think! We can't just rush out there without a plan! We'll be sitting ducks if we do!" Lucky reasoned.

"Well we can't just sit here and do nothing either! Our friends need help right now!" Hope shouted as she pulled herself out of Lucky's grip and proceeded to roll out from under the truck before drawing her weapon and joining the fray.

"Wait damn it!" Lucky shouted after her but she was already out earshot causing him to release a dry sigh. "Is she crazy!?"

"She's right Lucky, besides this truck isn't going to protect us from those monsters!" Alex shouted as he also rolled out and followed after his female comrade.

Lucky slammed his fist on the dirt in frustration before saying. "Screw it!" And rolling himself out from under the truck and jumping up to his feet. The moment he did he heard several rounds wiz past his head causing him to dived back down and dunk behind a large bolder on the side of the road. And when he did he realized that a large part of his remaining squad was also using the same stone as their own cover. He gave his comrades a quick nod before he reached for the weapon on his back and drew his twelve-gage shotgun. Then he cocked it once before popping up from behind the large stone to unload a slug into the chest of a clicker running after one of his injured comrades a few feet away who was desperately trying to crawl towards them for safety. When the slung hit its mark the clicker's chest caved and it stumbled backward before letting out one last shriek before collapsing onto the ground motionless. "God I love this thing!" Lucky cheered as he kissed the barrel of his weapon and quickly loaded in another shell.

"I got him!" Alex shouted as he ran out to grab the downed man and pull him into cover with along with them.

"Thank you!" The man said to them as he winced in pain and pressed his back against the bolder.

Then Hope popped up from behind the bolder herself to also unload a clip of her Assault Rifle into the horde only dunking back down when her clip had completely emptied. Then she turned to Lucky to continue their earlier conversation. "So you got a plan yet Lucky!?" She asked while popping a new clip into her rifle.

In response to his friends questioned Lucky popped up and looked out over the seemingly endless stream of approaching infected and then back at the few remaining members of his squad. At least a third of the ones that could still fight had leg injuries so they couldn't make a break for it and they couldn't just leave them. He figured their best chance was to stand their ground. "Keep fighting! Don't let those fungus heads get close!" He commanded and his fellow squad members followed suit with a constant stream of gun fire.

After a few minutes of the frantic bullet storm ammo was running low and there was still no sign of the infected letting up. "How is there so many of them here!?" Hope asked.

"Their sniper has been quiet for awhile now! The gun fire must be drawing them now!" Lucky responded as he took aim on another infected running towards them. He leveled the iron sights with its head and squeezed the trigger. And just like a magic trick the infected's head disappear in a puff of rotted flesh and spores.

"Still this number isn't normal even for the back country!" Alex stated before glancing over the bolder and taking a few pot shots with his 9mm handgun. His rifle was completely out of rounds at this point and he couldn't risk coming out of cover to scavenge more from their fallen comrades. Then he saw something that made the hairs on the back of his head stand up. "Umm guys, we have a Bloater!" He announced in a panicked tone.

Everyone instantly peeked out of cover to see a charging mass of fungus heading right for them. Before they could even react the massive infected launched a ball of spores directly at their position striking the top of the bolder and causing the soldiers to panic and scatter out from behind their cover. Several soldiers either weren't wearing their gasmasks or had damaged them in the explosion and we're now coughing and gasping as the spores entered their lungs.

"This isn't good!" Alex said as he began firing on the Bloater. His 9mm rounds were having next to no effect on the behemoth other than making it angry. The Bloater roared before charging towards Alex but was stopped flat when a twelve-gage slug struck it in its knee cap. The Bloater tumbled over and went into a roll. Alex quickly side stepped the beast as it rolled past him and smash through the railing separating the road form the cliff below. Then he turned towards Lucky who had fired the shot to thank him but noticed he was also being over taken by infected. "Lucky, look out!" He shouted as he raised his pistol and fired a few more rounds before hearing nothing but a click as his pistol emptied.

Meanwhile Lucky fired a round into one of the infected but was grabbed by another. "Crap, let go!" Lucky shouted as he struggled to break free of its grasp. Then another infected caught him from the side and knocked him off his feet. "Damn!" Is all he could manage before the three of them went into a similar barrel roll the Bloater had taken only moments ago causing them to barrel right off the cliff and into the tree line below it. When he fell Lucky let out a desperate scream as he felt the sudden rush off air overtaking him. And the whole way down the infected were still holding onto him while they thrashed and snapped at him trying to sink their teeth into whatever body part they could but the ground was coming up quickly. Lucky figured he could kill three birds with one stone and angled their decent so that the infected would take the brunt of the fall. First he smacked into the side of the cliff throwing one infected off and then bounced into a nearby tree hitting several branches on the way down. The second infected got caught on a branch about half way down the tree but Lucky's momentum kept him going down towards the ground. And when Lucky finally made contact with the ground he landed square on his ass with a loud thud and felt the air rush out of his lungs so fast he became dizzy and before he could even think about getting back up again he past out slumping back against the tree that had broken most of his fall.

/////////////////////////////////////////////

Several hours later and Lucky finally awoke from his pain and trauma induced black out to complete silence and darkness. The sun had set and the battle had ended. He could only make a guess as too the outcome since there was no way to make it back up the cliff to check it out. However since nobody came to collect him, he had to assumed that it wasn't favorable. Lucky groaned as he tried to pick himself up off the ground. Every bone in his body was screaming at him to stay down but he couldn't. He pushed himself up against the tree for support and glanced up at the cliff. "Maybe they didn't come for me because they didn't think I would be alive. Seriously how did I survive that fall?" He asked himself. "I guess I may really be Lucky after all." He mused as he finally pushed himself back up onto his own feet and felt a sharp pain shoot through his left leg. "Ouch, shit did I break it!?" He roared before glancing down to inspect the wound. And when he did he felt a pit form in his stomach. There were teeth marks, he had been bitten. "Son of a… I take back my earlier statement. I'm never lucky."

Then Lucky fell back down to the ground defeated. "Well this is just great! You make one little mistake, isn't that right mom!? Yeah I know I'm a screw up! Now what do I do? I can barely walk and I'm miles away from anyplace that possibly help me. And if it's already nightfall I probably only have a few hours left before I turn." Lucky asked himself before letting out a long sigh. "I guess there is really only one option."

Lucky then reached for his side arm. He pulled the 9mm handgun out its holster and began examining it in his hands. On the handle of the gun there was an R carved into it. This was his mother's handgun, she had taught him how to shoot using it and it had been the last birthday present she had ever given him. Some would see it as a strange gift to give a young boy but it was also to celebrate his graduation from military school so it was good timing. "Well I guess this is it then." He announced in a slightly somber tone before he switched off the safety and pressed the barrel of the weapon to his temple. His hand began to shake as his finger rapped around the trigger. Finally after a long pregnant silence he squeezed the trigger… and nothing happened. "What the hell?" He said as he examined the gun again. It was loaded and the safety was indeed off. Then he realized that the damn thing had jammed. It was an old gun sure but it never jammed on him before, not even once. The realization of this fact caused him to break into manic laughter. "Of course it would jam! That's just my luck isn't it!? Screw this crap!" He shouted in frustration as he threw the gun against the ground in front of him causing it to misfire and hit him right in the shoulder. Lucky fell back against the tree and gripped his new wound tightly as he screamed in pain and once again the shook caused him to pass out.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////

A few more hours passed before Lucky came too again. This time the darkness had risen as the sun peeked out over the horizon. "What, is that the sun? Does that mean I'm still alive?" Lucky asked himself before the sun was suddenly obscured by what appeared to be a young red haired women who stepped out in front of him. "Wait an angel? Never mind I guess I'm dead after all."

The girl's eyes were wondering as if in search of something and when she finally turned them towards Lucky and found him under the tree they widened drastically. Then she turned away towards a second figure that was slightly obscured by the light of the sun and shouted. "Joel, come quick I found another one! He's still alive!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow that was something wasn't it? How do you feel about it so far? Do you think I should cut back on the use of swearing or stay the course?


	3. Welcome to Jackson

A soft groan escaped from Lucky's soar and slightly dry throat as he began to stir. He didn't know how long he'd been out or when he had even went to sleep to begin with. All Lucky knew was that he was lying in a real bed, which was interesting since it was something he hadn't done in weeks. And on top of that the smell in the air had changed drastically. No longer was he greeted with the smell of dirt, fungus, and timber. No this smell was different. This was a smell that he used to be more familiar with. It was the smell of rust, mold, and fresh garbage, in other words it was the smell of civilization. Lucky was able to notice all these things despite the fact that all of his senses were slightly dulled, likely due to some type of pain killer or tranquilizer in his system. And his hearing was still sharp enough to make out the sounds of shuffling at his bedside. Realizing he wasn't alone Lucky attempted to crack open his eyes to see who or what it was watching over him. When he opened his eyes his vision was blurry but he could just make out the outline of a person sitting in front of him, so Lucky quickly tried to blink away the grime and focused on the figure. When his vision finally cleared what he saw was a young red haired girl looking down at him intently. Seeing the girl must have kick started his memory because he instantly recognized her as the same girl that he had seen earlier in the forest. Which meant two things, one, she wasn't just a figment of his imagination. And two, based on the pain currently shooting through his body Lucky could surmise that she was no angel either.

After a moment of intense examination the girl noticed Lucky's stair and their eyes met. When they did the girls eyes widened and her mouth soon did the same forming a large smile. Something about her smile was oddly really comforting to Lucky. A moment later and she broke eye contact and spun around to face a much larger and based on the lines of gray hair mixed in with the rest of his hair he was a far older man sitting in a small folding chair a few feet away from them next to a doorway. He had his arms crossed over his chest and his head lowered. The man looked like he was dosing, at least until the girl called out to him. "Joel, he's awake!" She shouted excitedly.

When she did call to him the older man instantly snapped to attention and rose up out of his seat in front of the door. Then he looked over towards Lucky's bed and he could see the man's face clearly now though he kind of wished he hadn't. The sour expression that was spread across the older man's grizzled features did just about anything but put Lucky's mind at ease. And what the man did after that instantly put Lucky on the edge of panic. Lucky noticed the man had reached into his back pocket to retrieve a side arm or some sort. An old revolver by the look of it and after stomping over towards Lucky's bedside the man now had it level with side of his head. "Talk!" The older man demanded.

Lucky could tell from his tone alone that the man meant business. What that business was at the moment was very much lost on him for the time being though. However the sudden aggression he was faced with sent Lucky's mind into overdrive as it tried to think its way through its current situation. "What is this?! He wants information?! What do I tell him?! Who are these people?! Did I get captured by the Hunters?! Where am I?! Do I need to get out of here!?" He thought to himself before trying to sit up from the bed he was laying in and it only caused his panic to elevate once he realized that he was strapped down to it. "Okay this really bad!" He thought.

"I said talk!" The man commanded as he pulled the hammer back on his weapon.

"Jesus Joel, would you quit it! You're freaking the guy out!" The red haired girl shouted as she leapt up from her seat and rapped herself around the large man's arm to pull the offending limb down and hold it there. Then without letting go of the man's arm she leaned over towards Lucky to speak with him directly. "What's your name, mines Ellie?"

"I…I'm Lucky, Lucky Ramirez!" Lucky responded hastily while trying not to give to much information to a possible enemy while still acting cooperatively enough to avoid getting his head blown off.

The smile on the girls face grew even wider before elbowing the larger man in the gut. "See Joel, I told you!"

The larger man didn't seem the least bit affected by the girls jab and just glared down at Lucky in what appeared to be disbelief. "There's no gosh dang way, it's impossible!" He told the girl.

"What's that suppose to mean Joel? You're the one who said the fireflies had found tons of people like me! And since they gave up looking it was only a matter of time until we met one right?" Ellie retorted which for whatever reason caused the older man to cringe.

Now that the shock of the situation was fading, confusion began to take over Lucky's mind. "Umm, I'm sorry but what are you guys talking about?" He asked.

"You were bitten." Joel said bluntly.

The man's words seemed to kick start the rest of Lucky's brain as the memories of what had transpired came flooding back to him. The hunter ambush, the infected, his fall from the cliff, and the pain coursing through his leg quickly reminded him of the most pressing issue. He really had been bitten! Lucky looked down at his leg and it was rapped up in red stained bandages. He tried to think of something to say but then Ellie popped back into his field of view. "But man is Lucky your given name or what?! I'm only asking because it really seems to fit you!" Ellie chimed in cheerfully.

There was the L-word again. Lucky failed to see how this was a fortunate turn of events. He may not be at the bottom of a cliff licking his wounds anymore but he was still infected. "Sorry, I don't really see this as a fortunate out come for me. Aren't I still fairly screwed?" He asked her.

Ellie gave Lucky a slightly confused look and then realized he didn't know what he was and her smile returned. "Hey Lucky, do you know how long you've been out?" She asked him.

Lucky gave the girl a confused look. He wasn't quite sure since it's not like he was awake for it but, he took a look at a nearby window and noticed that sunlight was pouring in through it. The last waking memory he could recall was of being found in the woods in the early morning. Based on the angle the light was pouring in from he could surmise that it was either a little after morning or a little before sunset. "Umm, I guess it has been a few hour." He responded.

"Well sure if you consider an entire day a few hours." Ellie retorted with a shrug.

"An… An entire day? Wait you mean I've been out for over twenty-four hours!?" Lucky asked.

"Yeah and that's not even counting the time between you getting bit and us finding you. Which based on our reports on when you guys were likely ambushed would tack on nearly another twelve hours. Do you get what I'm telling you Lucky?" Ellie added with a questioning stare.

Lucky shook his head. He didn't get it. Their telling him he's been infected for nearly two days now but that's impossible right? Nobody lasts that long, he knew that from experience. "I don't understand." He told her.

Ellie let out a sigh before making her way over to the edge of the bed in front of Lucky's legs. "Alright I guess a visual aid may be more helpful here." She stated before pulling at the bandages and un-rapping them. "Tada!" Ellie cheered as pulled the last lair of cloth free to reveal a scared, blood stained, and fungus ridden leg. Besides the grotesque wound it had suffered, Lucky's leg was still very much how he remembered it looking. It was skinny, white, hairy, and rather muscular for its size. Even though there were clear signs of fungal infection around the bite, there were no signs of any spreading. Lucky had never seen anything like it. Every time he'd seen somebody get bitten in the past, it would begin to spread almost instantly.

Lucky now knew what the girl was trying to tell him but he didn't understand why. "Why haven't I turned?" He asked in a confused tone.

Ellie shrugged before responding. "I already told you, you're just 'lucky'." She said jokingly causing Lucky to shoot her an annoyed glare. "Oh, would you relax I'm just fucking with you. Here maybe this will help." She said as she lifted up one of her hands which were both covered by brown leather gloves and she began to tug at the fingers of the presented hand's glove with her other hand in an attempt to remove it.

"Ellie!" Jeol said in warning tone while placing a hand on her shoulder.

Ellie shot the man a cold glare causing the brute to release his grip and take a step back. "Chill Joel, it's just us and who's he going to tell!?" She shouted before finally pulling her hand free and waving her scared palm in front of Lucky's for his eyes to see. Lucky's eyes widened and his jaw began to hang slightly ajar as he looked at the faded bite mark on the girl's hand. Based on the fungal outbreak around the rim of the edges of the wound it was clear it was an infected's doing. With that said the wound was old, very old. If Lucky had to wager a guess it would have to be at least a few years old and yet it didn't look like it was spreading at all. "So you get it now? You're just like me!" The girl explained as she slipped her glove back on to cover the mark.

Finally the picture was snapping together in Lucky's head. He had heard rumors of such people existing but to him that's all they were, just rumors. "Are you telling me that you're… we're…umm."

"Immune!" Ellie declared cheerfully.

///////////////////////////////////////////////

#### Three Days Later

Lucky now finds himself laid out on an old couch in a small dusty and even older house while staring intently at a small television hooked up to a VCR. The sounds of cheerful singing filled the room. And he cheerfully sang along with the video. "Hakuna matata, it means no worries for the rest of your days. Hakuna matata, it isn't no passing crazy…" He was interrupted when he head the sound of knocking coming from his front door. The light and slightly rhythmic knocks gave him a fairly good idea of who it was. "Ellie!?" He said to himself before grabbing the nearby remote and tapping the pause button. Then he eased himself off the couch and since he was still suffering from his injuries he grabbed his makeshift crutch. Then he hobbled his wave over to the door, unlocked it, and pulled it open revealing a very tiered looking Ellie. Her head and shoulders were sagging and her expression was a little grim. And she was hoisting her hunting rile and survival gear on her back which made it fairly easy to guess why. "You just get back from patrol?" Lucky asked her.

Ellie simply nodded before looking up to meet his gaze and giving him a weak smile. "May I come in?" She asked.

Lucky quickly motioned for her to enter. "Of course this is you're place after all right? Thanks again for letting me borrow it by the way."

"Yeah, this is the best solution we could come up with. We did have a whole building set aside for your squad when you arrived but, it would be far too large for a single person. Besides it doesn't really scream home, you know what I mean?" Ellie said as she stepped past Lucky into the house. The front door led directly into the homes living room so the moment Ellie stepped inside she had caught a glimpse of the television and what was playing and a brighter smile appeared on her face. "The Lion King huh?"

"Yeah, I've heard its good but I've never seen it before." Lucky responded.

"Oh, is it living up to your expectations?" Ellie asked in a playful tone.

"So far not so bad, that Scar is a real dick though." He says jokingly. "How about you, did you like it?"

Ellie shrugs. "It's alright I guess. Disney just isn't really my thing. Maybe their movies are just too family friendly for my tastes. I myself like to have a little bit more action. The Matrix is my personal favorite so far. Joel tells me that they made three of them but we could never find the second or the third installment which is a real bummer. Anyway Joel on the other hand swears by Disney." She explained.

This catches Lucky's interest. "Joel really?"

Ellie nods. "He really likes musicals. And the Lion King is one of his favorites. That's why we have a copy, it turns out that his brother found the original when he was digging through what was left of their old house and held onto it for him."

"Wow, never would have pegged Joel as a musical lover." Lucky stated while trying to stifle a laugh.

Ellie began to chuckle. "Yeah but don't tell anyone I said that or Joel might kill you!"

"My lips are sealed." Lucky stated as he made a zipping motion across his mouth causing them both to break into another laugh. When the laugher died down Lucky figured it was time to get down to business. "So to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit today Ellie?"

Ellie's expression dipped again and she let out a deep sigh before responding. "We ran into a few more of your squad members today." She said in a somber tone.

Lucky suddenly felt his breath catch in his throat. Only a handful of bodies had been found around the cliff side where his squad had been ambushed. And so far none of Lucky's other squad members had ever managed to make it to Jackson like he did. This could mean a few different things, for example they could have all fled into the woods and were now in hiding, or they had been captured by the hunters and were now being served on dinner plates, or they had been infected and just wondered off. And of course it could be any combination of these things as well. Since it was unclear, over the last few days Ellie along with a handful of other volunteers from the town had been patrolling around the ambush sight for any signs of the Hunters who attacked him and his squad along with his missing squad members. Unfortunately their search has only turned up corpses so far. "I'm guessing they were not in the best of shape?" Lucky asked grimly.

Ellie nodded before reaching into her jacket and pulling out three sets of dog tags. Then she handed the tags to Lucky for inspection. "They were all infected, their in a better place now." She stated dryly.

Lucky could tell the words were meant to comfort him but he could tell she didn't really believe in what she was saying. He thanked her anyway and read off the names to himself and breathed a sigh of relief. The three names listed on the tags were without a doubt, members of his squad but he knew none of them on a personal level. He could still hold onto some hope that Alex and… Hope were still alive somewhere. "Man Hope, another ironic name. Is this just a running joke in my life?" He wondered.

Lucky was broken free of his negative thoughts when Ellie called out to him. "Well Lucky thanks for your time. I'm sorry I couldn't bring you happier news. Now then I should probably get back to Joel's place. I haven't checked in since I got back from patrol and ever since I came back to the nest he has been treating me like a kid again." Ellie said half jokingly before turning and heading back towards the door.

Lucky nodded in understanding. After all he could remember how protective his mom use to get. Even when he was in military school if he didn't check in with her once a day she would talk his ear off the next. Then Lucky's eyes wondered back to the television and a wide grin appeared on his face. "Hey Ellie, are you sure you want to go so soon? I haven't watched the Matrix yet either you know? Once I'm done with the Lion King I figured I might give it a try. And it might help me enjoy the movie more if I have an expert on hand." Lucky explained.

At this point Ellie already had already pulled the door to the house half way open and she froze in her tracks. A wide smirk began spreading across her face which she hid before turning around to face Lucky. "I can see your point. I tell you what Lucky, why don't you keep watching the Lion King and I will go check in with Joel. While I'm there I can snag us some popcorn, it's been proven that popcorn can enhance any movie going experience by at least 10%." She said jokingly.

Lucky lifted one of his eyebrows. "You guys have popcorn here?" He asked.

"We grow corn here Lucky, among other things. So as long as you know the right people you'd be surprised just what you can get your hands on." Ellie said proudly before cracking the door open further. "Anyway see you in a bit," She then stepped out and closed the door behind her only for the door to crack open again and her head to peak in a moment later. "Oh and Lucky before I forget again there is something I wanted to say to you."

"Oh what is it?" Lucky asked in a curious tone.

"Welcome to Jackson." Ellie said happily before disappearing behind the door once again.

"Yeah, I've heard its good but I've never seen it before." Lucky responded.

"Oh, is it living up to your expectations?" Ellie asked in a playful tone.

"So far not so bad, that Scar is a real dick though." He says jokingly. "How about you, did you like it?"

Ellie shrugs. "It's alright I guess. Disney just isn't really my thing I guess. Maybe their movies are just too family friendly for my tastes. I myself like to have a little bit more action. The Matrix is my personal favorite. Jeol tells me that they made three of them but we could never find the second or the third installment which is a real bummer. Anyway Joel on the other hand swears by Disney."

This catches Lucky's interest. "Jeol really?"

Ellie nods. "He really likes musicals. And the Lion King is one of his favorites. That's why we have a copy, it turns out that his brother found original when he was digging through what was left of their old house."

"Wow, never would have pegged Jeol as a musical lover." Lucky stated while trying to stifle a laugh.

Ellie began to chuckle. "Yeah but don't tell anyone I said that or Jeol might kill you!"

"My lips are sealed." Lucky stated as he made a zipping motion across his mouth causing them both to break into another laugh. When the laugher died down Lucky figured it was time to get down to business. "So to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit today Ellie?"

Ellie's expression dipped and she let out a deep sigh. "We ran into a few more of your squad members today." She said in a somber tone.

Lucky suddenly felt his breath catch in his throat. Only a handful of bodies had been found around the cliff side where his squad had been ambushed but. None of Lucky's other squad members had ever managed to make it to Jackson like he did. This could mean a few different things, for example they could have all fled into the woods and were now in hiding, or they had been captured by the hunters and were now being served on dinner plates, or they had been infected and just wondered off. And of course it could be any combination of these things as well. Since it was unclear, over the last few days Ellie along with handful of other volunteers from the town had been patrolling around the ambush sight for any signs of the Hunters who attacked him and his squad along with his missing squad members. So far their search has only turned up corpses. "I'm guessing they were not in good shape?" Lucky asks grimly.

Ellie nods before reaching into her jacket and pulling out three sets of dog tags and hands them to Lucky for inspection. "They were all infected, their in a better place now." She stated dryly.

Lucky could tell the words were meant to comfort him but he could tell she didn't really believe in what she was saying. He thanked her anyway and read off the names to himself and breathed a sigh of relief. The three names listed on the tags were without a doubt, members of his squad but he knew none of them on a personal level. He could still hold onto some hope that Alex and… Hope were still alive somewhere. "Man Hope, another ironic name. Is this just a running joke in my life?" He wondered.

Lucky was broken free of his negative thoughts when Ellie called out to him. "Well Lucky thanks for your time. I'm sorry I couldn't bring you happier news. Now then I should probably get back to Jeol's place. I haven't checked in since I got back from patrol and ever since I came back to the nest he has been treating me like a kid again." Ellie said half jokingly before turning and heading towards the door.

Lucky nodded in understanding, he could remember how protective his mom use to get. Even when he was in military school if he didn't check in with her once a day she would talk his ear off the next. Then Lucky's eyes wondered back to the television and a wide grin appeared on his face. "Hey Ellie, are you sure you want to go so soon? I haven't watched the Matrix yet ether you know? Once I'm done with the Lion King I figured I might give it a try. And it might help me enjoy the movie more if I have an expert on hand." Lucky explained.

At this point Ellie already had already pulled the door to the house half way open and she froze in her tracks. A wide smirk began spreading across her face which she hid before turning around to face Lucky. "I can see your point. I tell you what Lucky, why don't you keep watching the Lion King and I will go check in with Joel. While I'm there I can snag us some popcorn, it's been proven that popcorn can enhance any movie going experience by at least 10%." She said jokingly.

Lucky lifted one of his eyebrows. "You guys have popcorn here?" He asked.

"We grow corn here Lucky, among other things. So as long as you know the right people you'd be surprised just what you can get your hands on." Ellie said proudly before cracking the door open further. "Anyway see you in a bit," She then stepped out and closed the door behind her only for door to crack open again and her head to peak in a moment later. "Oh and Lucky before I forget again there is something I wanted to say to you."

"Oh what is it?" Lucky asked in a curious tone.

"Welcome to Jackson." Ellie said happily before disappearing behind the door once again.


	4. The Runaways

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fate of our soldiers is revealed.

Several miles outside of Jackson hidden away within the dense forests and mountainous terrain sat a small fenced in encampment. And despite it being in the dead of night the camp was alive with activity. Large men in shabby clothes hoisted large rifles and were swarming both inside and around the camp's perimeter and the sound of barking dogs and an ear splitting alarm filled the air.

Over the sound of the chaos several yelling voices could be heard. "Prisoners have escaped!" A man yelled out.

"Go after them! Release the dogs if you have to! If Deacon hears that they got away he's going to make us all the next sacrifices!" Another voice yelled out.

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Meanwhile a few yards from the encampment a group of men one of which was light skinned and the other had a much darker complexion and the other member of their group was a light skinned Asian woman with long black hair pulled up in a pony tail. And all of them were dressed in military greens. The group was in the middle of a mad dash through the tree line and they were running like the devil himself was hot on their tails. And based on the sounds of yelling and barking coming towards them it wouldn't be a far off assessment.

"Keep running guys their still after us!" The men leading the group shouted back to his two companions.

"Who the hell are these nut jobs anyway!? I didn't sign up for this shit Alex!" The second man shouts in a panicked tone before noticing a fallen tree blocking their way. "Watch out in front!" He warned causing Alex to bound over the log and he fallowed soon after.

"And what George, you think the rest of us did!? Just shut up and keep running if you don't want to end up like the rest of them!" Alex shouted back.

"I still can't believe what their doing in their! Their all completely crazy aren't they!" The female soldier stated as she also jumped over the blockage and continued in their dead sprint.

"I don't know Lin, calling them crazy might be giving them too much credit! I think their all just easily fooled! That guy who was leading them sure had a mouth on him!" Alex shouted before noticing a large dip in the ground in front of them. The trench was only about ten feet wide and eight feet deep but it had rained the night before and almost the whole thing was mud now. Trying to climb in or out of it would slow them down to much and going around it was even less of an option which meant one thing. "There's some kind of trench up ahead, we're going to have to jump it!" He shouted as he increased his pace and threw himself forward over the pit and quickly tucked his arms and legs in as he landed on the other side and broke into a roll.

Then Alex popped his head back up and glanced towards his fellow squad members who were about to attempt the same. First George kicked off the edge of the trench and soared across its expanse before also tucking in and land with a roll. Alex gave George a curt nod before glancing back at Lin to await her jump as well. Lin was building up speed preparing to make the jump but during her run her foot slid on some loose top soil and though it didn't halt her momentum it threw her off balanced and caused her jump to fall short. Lin's body slammed into the opposing side of the trench with a muted thud before she bounced off and landed flat in the mud below. Alex quickly sprang up and glanced down at his fallen squad member. "Lin, are you alright!? Lin, talk to me!" He shouted down to her.

In response Lin let out a pained groan and began pushing herself back up onto her feet. "I'm alright. Now help me get out of here!" She shouted up at him.

"Alright give me your hand!" Alex responded as he reached down into the pit to rescue his comrade. Lin began reaching up and their hands clasped. Then Alex began pulling her up out of the pit but was having trouble due to the slickness of the ground below him and the lack of solid hand holds on the wall for Lin to grab onto for support. And that's when he spotted something out of the corner of his eyes. When he did he glanced back up towards the way they had come and spotted a pack attack dogs running towards them barking like hellhounds. "Oh shit! George can you come over here and give me a hand! We have to get her out of here!" He shouted back to his other comrade.

"I got you!" George shouted as he ran over to aid in pulling Lin up.

And they almost had her one of the dogs jumped into the pit and clamped its jaw down on Lin's ankle. "Ouch! Son of a bitch! Get off me you mutt!" Lin snarled as she kicked and thrashed to get the dog to release its hold on her leg unfortunately it had the opposite effect and she thrashed her way out of Alex's and George's grip sending her crashing back down into the mud. While a second dog hopped down into the pit and ran for the downed woman's throat. "AAAHHHHHHH!" Lin screamed as she lifted her arms in an attempt to shield vitals from the blood thirsty animal.

However before the dog could get the chance Alex reached into his back pocket for the only weapon they were able to get their hands on before making their daring escape. It was a stainless steel combat knife not unlike the ones they were issued themselves. And though it wasn't weighted properly for throwing Alex was well trained and flipped the weapon over so that he was grasping it by the tip of the blade and snapped his wrist sending the weapon twirling threw the air before planting itself into the throat of the incoming attack dog causing it to fall limp by the side of Lin's head. "Lin, get the knife!" Alex shouted to his companion as she struggled against her first opponent.

Lin's head quickly spun around to see the knife jammed into the dead animal beside her and without a moments hesitation she reached out and pulled the knife free before thrusting back down into the skull of her attacker causing it to also fall limp a moment later. And before she could even let out a sigh of relief the sound of yelling killed the short lived silence. "They went this way, hurry up! Don't let them get away!"

The yelling caused a new surge of panic to run through Lin as she quickly tried to get back onto her feet once again only to realize that the dog had done serious damage to her leg. The moment she had tried to put any weight on the injured leg she about fell over again, only catching herself on the wall of the pit. Then she glanced back up at her companions with a somber expression. "Guy's I can't run with my leg jacked up like this! You have to get out of here while you still!" She told them.

George and Alex stared at each other for a brief moment before Alex looked back down at Lin and clenched his jaw tight. Then he jumped down into the pit next to Lin and pulled her arm over his shoulder. The action caused both George and Lin to shoot him disbelieving looks before George spoke up. "What the hell are you doing man!?"

"Yeah are you crazy! I'm only going to slow you guys down! If we all get caught were screwed!" Lin reprimanded.

"I'm not leaving you behind!" Alex retorted to Lin before looking back up at George. "Besides they are not going to catch us all, George get the hell out of here! Tell everyone what's going on!" He told him.

"And what about you guys!?" George asked.

"I will figure something out! Now get out of here, we don't have time to argue!" Alex commanded.

George shook his head in disbelief. "Fine suit yourself, I'm out of here!" He shouted before turning to run deeper into the woods.

Then Alex let out a sigh before he adjusted himself under Lin's weight. "Alright let's find a way out of this trench." Alex said in slightly more hushed tone as the two of them began to quickly hobble along its expanse.

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#### Several Hours Later

George wasn't sure how long he had been running but since it was pitch black when he started and now daylight was peeking over the horizon he had to assume that it was a long time. Of course it wasn't for good reason. To say his pursuers were persistent would be a huge understatement. It wasn't until about ten minutes ago that he stopped hearing their yelling. Of course its to say he's home free but he was just too tired to go any further without taking at least a short siesta. And so he sat down beside a large oak tree and pressed his back against it for support.

As George leaned back against the tree he could help but wish he had some smokes right about now. Not that they would help him catch is breath of course but they would certainly help him calm his shaky nerves. He still couldn't believe everything that had just happened. Not just with Alex's crazy decision to stay with Lin when she could barely stand up straight on her own but also the attack on his squad. And of course the Hunter camp they had managed to escape from by the skin of their teeth. Well at least he had escaped anyway. He could only hope that Alex and Lin really had figured something out and weren't recaptured or worse.

Then George let out a deep yawn. "Shoot, I'm so fucking tiered right now. I guess that's what happens when you spend days on end too scared to sleep properly and then run a marathon." He huffed before leaning into the tree again now seriously thinking about if he could try a take a nap. However before he could put much thought into it he heard the sounds of movement and twigs snapping under feet. He instantly shot back up to his feet and began scanning the area for the source of the sound. That's when an all too familiar groan filled his ears and sent a shiver down his spine. His eyes snapped to the left to see an infected dressed in military green stumbling around the woods a few feet away. When George seen the effected his eyes widened in shook. "My god, Sampson what have they done to you." He said under his breath.

Then George's attention was pulled away when he heard a loud screech coming from behind him. He spun around to see another pair of infected dressed in civilian clothing who had apparently spotted him and were now charging towards his location. "Oh crap!" She screamed as he bolted away from the tree and heard another screech signaling that his old ex-squad member had now joined the chase as well. And George spared one glance back over his shoulder to confirm his three pursers were too close for comfort so he pushed his tiered legs as hard as he could to put some distance between them.

Then as he ran passed a small tree with thin low hanging branches he grabbed onto them and held them back until they were nearly at the breaking point before releasing them. When he did the branches snapped back into place and cracked one of the civilian infected in the chest hard enough to knock it off its feet. "Suck it you fungus headed freak!" George gloated as the other two however simply pushed their way through and continued the chase.

After several more minutes of this the infected showed no signs of tiring but George on the other hand couldn't possibly keep this up much longer. He needed to do something or he was going to end up as one of those things. He couldn't accept that, at least not until he got pay back on those assholes who attacked them. That's when he noticed something up ahead. It was an old campsite of some kind. There was a torn and broken down tent next to burnt out fire pit. Which was an interesting sight but what really caught his eye however was the dozens of loose beer bottles that were scattered around the area. Of course he wasn't really interested in beer itself. Mind you its not that George couldn't use a hard drink right about now but the bottles themselves would be more useful given his current situation.

So George ran over to the nearest grouping of bottles beside the old camp fire and snatched up two of them holding one in each hand before spinning around to face his attackers. He quickly cocked his arm backward before taking a step forward to hurl one of the glass bottles into the face of his former squad member. The bottle shattered on impacted completely destroying the face of the man once known as Sampson and sending him stumbling backward before falling over. The second infected however was already too close and George didn't have enough time to prepare a proper throw so instead he waited for it to come a little closer. When the infected got within striking distances George dodged out of the way of its arms as it tried to grab him and swung empty bottle around to smash into the back of the infected head drawing blood and sending it sprawling onto the ground as well. Then George jumped on top of the downed infected and used the sharp remains of the broken bottle as a knife and jammed it into the infected mans throat slicing it wide open. After getting stabbed the infected continued to wail and thrash for several more seconds before it finally fell silent.

"And… you… can stay down… mother fucker!" George huffed in between sharp breathes. Then George's attention was pulled back to the infected that was once Sampson when it let out a wail of its own. When George glanced back at the infected it was back on its feet and thrashing wildly in his general direction but not advancing quickly.

George was confused for a moment until he noticed the glass fragments imbedded in the infected eyes. "I turned him into a Stumbler." He mused to himself as he carefully eased himself off of the dead infected and away from the thrashing infected. A Stumbler was the unofficial name for infected that the army had given to those that were between Runners and Clickers. Effectively a Stumbler was an infected that had lost its sight before its echo location abilities had fully developed. This made them clumsy and relatively harmless as long as you kept your distance from them. Still it was no reason to take chances.

However before he could make an escape he heard yet another wail coming from the tree line behind the Stumbler and his eyes snapped forward to see that his third pursuer had caught up with them and was now charging directly for him. George's eyes immediately began darting around him for any more bottles to use but there weren't any within arms reach so he tried to make a run for it but his foot caught on one of the rocks lining the fire pit and he fell over and rolled onto his back causing him to let out a pained yelp. When he did the Stumbler zeroed in on his location and began running towards him as well. "Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!" George shouted in a panic as he tried to crawl away from the pair of enraged infected.

A few seconds later and George felt stomach drop as he felt himself be yanked up off the ground by the collar of his army jacket. And he quickly stripped off the jacket allowing himself to break free of the infected grasp and broke into a run as the two gave chase. Then he heard a crack ring out through the forest and risked a glance back to see the Stumbler who had snagged his jacket crumbling to the ground with a smoking hole in its head. And then the second infected received similar treatment as several more shots rang out and it was turned into Swiss cheese. "Where the hell did those shots come from?!" George shouted as he began frantically glancing around for the source.

Finally his eyes came to rest on group of figures shambling out from the tree line in front of him. There were about six people in total. They all had greatly varying age and even gender so he assumed they at least weren't with the Hunters. However they were all armed and had their sights leveled with him so he couldn't relax just yet. "Who are you people?!" He asked.

In response to his question the youngest looking member of their group stepped forward. It was a young women in either her early twenties or late teens and she had long red hair. "We're with Jackson. Are you a member of squad who was sent to help us deal with the Hunters?" She asked.

"That's right, I'm Private…" He began before he heard another voice all out to him.

"George, George is that you?!" The voice asked.

That's when George spun around to see another armed group appear in the woods. Only this time he distinctly recognized one of the faces. The face had blue eyes and brown stubble coming in along the chin and its mouth was curled up in a wide grin. "Jesus Christ, Lucky is that you?! I thought you got bit and fell off a cliff. How the hell are you still alive!?"

Lucky let out a light chuckle before approaching his old comrade and they exchanged quick salute. "I could ask you the same thing, it looks like you got put though the ringer. Though if you must know it turned out that those infected's bark was worse than their bite. They didn't even break skin and I was able to use their bodies to break my fall."

George's jaw dropped open in disbelief before responding. "You've got to be kidding me right!?" He asked causing Lucky to just shrug. "Dang boy maybe you really are lucky." This statement caused Lucky to grimace slightly but say nothing.

Then the red haired girl walked up to the two. "So this guy is indeed a survivor I take it?"

Lucky nodded in agreement before motioning her towards his comrade. "This is George Broadway." Then he faced towards his comrade and motioned towards the red haired girl. "George this is Ellie, she is a friend of mine from Jackson. She has been leading the patrols who have been tasked with finding out missing comrades." Lucky explained causing George and Ellie to exchange a quick greeting.

"Speaking of which, is there any other survivors?" Ellie inquired.

That's when George's face clenched up in a grimace. "About that, we really need to talk but its not safe here."

Ellie and Lucky both nodded before Ellie turned back towards the rest of the reach team to address them. "Alright good work everyone were heading back to Jackson, let's move it."

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#### Meanwhile Several Miles Away

Alex and Lin had managed to pull themselves out of the ditch and evade their pursuers but were now stumbling their way through the forest with no clear destination in mind. He had managed to craft a split for Lin's leg out of cloth from his uniform and some sturdy sticks he had found along the way. However it would be days if not weeks before she would be able to walk properly on her own so he has had no choice but to hold both their weights and it was wearing on him. "I'm sorry, Alex." Lin said for what had to be the tenth time now.

Alex just shook his head before adjusting his grip on Lin once again. "It's fine, were in this together. I won't leave you behind. If I did Hope would never let me hear the end of it."

Lin gave Alex as a sad glance before focusing her gaze forward again. "Thank you." She said.

//////////////////////////////////////////////

#### Hunter Encampment

A group of tired and dirty looking men stud at attention in front of a young man who couldn't be any older than thirty. Behind the man stud several armed guards with their weapons leveled with the men standing at attention. And the man himself had shoulder length jet black hair that was pulled up into a pony tail. His dark green eyes were narrow and were covered by a pair of thin glasses. And his eyes gleamed with disappointment and suppressed rage as he passed in front of the men. His clothing was a set of white and black robes that covered him from head to toe and his arms were folded behind his back. After awhile of his pacing he stopped in the middle of the line of men and stared directly into the eyes of the man before him causing him to flinch away. "So, anyone care to tell me what happened last night?" He asked in a dry tone.

The man who had flinched quickly righted himself to respond. "Your grace, a group of the prisoners escaped and we went to pursue them."

The robbed man scoffed before continuing. "Oh is that so, and where are these prisoners now?" He asked in a dark tone.

Once again the man was shaken but quickly responded. "We… umm… I mean they got away your grace."

The robbed man gave no reaction to the frightened man's statement and instead turned towards the other members of the group. "Is what he says true?" He asked causing them all to nod in agreement. "I see. And what of the attack dogs you took with you? I heard they weren't all retrieved."

"Two of the dogs were killed by the escapees your grace." The first man responded.

The robbed man shook his head in disappointment. "Such a waste and now we're not going to have enough sacrifices for our next demonstration." He said before he began his pacing again. "Now who, I wonder is going to take their place?"

"Your grace I beg of you please, give us a chance we can still get them back!" The middle man pleaded.

That's when the robbed man stopped in his tracks and shot the middle man the coldest glare the man had ever been on the receiving end of. "Can you now? Well if that's the case what are you doing back here then huh? I am a busy man you know? I don't like having my time wasted." He said before turning his back on the men in the line and walking back towards him armed guards. When he did he pulled one of his guards in close to whisper to him. "Put them with the rest, at least their bodies will be useful to our cause."

"Everything is as you wish your grace." The guard responded before signaling his companions to carry out their orders.

**Author's Note:**

> By the way if you had not pick up on it Remirez is a canon character but she does not appear for every long.


End file.
